Does Genesis 1:26 Refer to the Trinity?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The frame, and the Oneness position stated first

• The frame states the teaching under examination: oneness pentecostals teach there is no distinction of persons between the father, the son, and the holy spirit. However, describing the creation of man, genesis 1 26 quotes god as saying: let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and genesis 11 — god observing the building of the tower of babel — again refers to himself in the plural, stating in verse 7: let us go down and there confound their language. The question posed: aren't these verses proof that there is more than one person in the godhead?
• His starting point: yes, oneness pentecostals believe there is one personal god — as deuteronomy 6 4 says: hear o israel, the lord our god is one lord. We do believe god has manifested himself as our father in creation; we do believe god came in flesh as jesus christ the son of god — god manifest in the flesh; and we do believe god is the holy spirit — god works in our lives by his spirit: god in action, god in personal presence. So we do believe in the father, son, and holy spirit — but we do not believe these are three personalities or three divine persons 'in the godhead', because we don't believe the godhead is an abstract substance that multiple persons can be in; we believe the godhead is god, singular.

Scriptures: Genesis 1:26; Genesis 11:7; Deuteronomy 6:4

The grammatical weight — and the rabbis' explanation

• First, the grammar: thousands of times the bible uses the singular pronoun or singular verb for god, so the overwhelming evidence, if you just want to go by grammar, is that god is singular; but you do have these few cases where plural pronouns are used of god. It is interesting: the jewish people have historically recognized the old testament as their bible, and they believe in absolutely one god, no multiplicity of persons. If you ask jewish rabbis — which he has done — does this indicate more than one person, they say: absolutely not. Their standard explanation in these two places is that god is addressing the angels: god respects the angels; angels were present at creation, according to the book of job, chapter 38 — though the angels did not participate in creating; god created alone; they were present. And the rabbi says god always includes his agents, his friends, his associates in his plans — even humans: in this case he informed the angels, 'i'm going to create someone who's going to be like us'; and in the tower of babel example, 'i'm going down to judge, and i want you to go with me and execute my judgment'. That is the traditional explanation, and it fits the context very well. However, it is quite possible something a little bit more is going on in genesis chapter 1, the creation account.

Scriptures: Job 38

The image proves the opposite — and Isaiah says it outright

• You cannot interpret this as more than one person participating in creation; if you do, you have several problems. Yes, genesis 1 26: let us make man. But then genesis 1 27 immediately reverts to the singular: so god created man in his own image — it's singular. And when you look at the image-creature, adam: you could describe adam in many ways — he has body, soul, spirit, mind, will, personality, what have you — but at the end of the day adam is one person, with one personality, with one will; and as such the bible says he is the image of his creator. If the image is one person with one will, then the reflection — he is the reflection of the reality, god — means god is one person, one will. So it actually proves the opposite.
• And then you also have the explicit statement of scripture in isaiah 44 24 — he reads it in the new king james, as he announces: thus says the lord, your redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: i am the lord who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by myself. God is very clear: when i created the world, heaven and earth, i did it alone and i did it by myself — so he wasn't talking to a co-creator, or to another person. If you do say god is speaking, according to genesis 1, and god is a trinity, then the trinity is speaking to someone else — so now you've got a fourth person. He doesn't think that's a credible explanation.

Scriptures: Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 44:24

The simplest explanation: the plural of deliberation

• Probably the simplest explanation he would give: it is the plural of deliberation. God is wanting to be intentional — wanting to show: i create everything by my word, but when i came to humans, they were so special, so unique, the apex of my creation: i molded them and i breathed into them; it was very intentional, not an accident, not just a side thought. As part of that: let us make man — just like i would say, in planning my day, 'let's see, what am i going to do today' — literally, let us see. Am i talking to another person? No. Am i a split personality? No. I am deliberating. And in fact ephesians 1 11 says god works all things after the counsel of his own will (heard 'together'): god is counseling within himself — showing us how important our creation was to him.

Scriptures: Ephesians 1:11

A further thought: the plural looks forward to redemption

• There is even a thought as well: in romans 5 it talks about adam created in the image of him who was to come — that is, christ jesus. Think about it this way: when god created adam and eve, he wanted people to have fellowship with him, to love him, to have communion with him; but they fell into sin, and that broke the fellowship — at least temporarily skewed god's plan. Then the question becomes: if god knows all things, why would he even create humans that would fail, that wouldn't fulfill his purpose? The answer is: because he also had a plan of redemption to restore humans, so that at least some of them could fulfill his original purpose. In other words, in god's plan jesus christ comes first — and the bible even says that: revelation — the lamb slain from the foundation of the world; first peter 1 — the lamb was foreordained (heard 'foreign') from the foundation of the world. Before god even created adam and eve, he already had the plan of redemption through jesus christ.
• So could it be that it is a more profound statement in genesis 1 26 — god looking forward, not to some other person sitting side by side, but looking at that child to be born: that true human being, who was god manifest in the flesh, but nevertheless a true human — a baby, a child, a young man, a man who was crucified, who died, rose again? Could it be god was looking forward and saying 'let us create man' — speaking not just of the original creation, but of the re-creation that would come through the redemption? Possibly it is a hint, an early sign, of the future plan of redemption through jesus christ our lord. He has given several possible explanations; different people put different weights on the probability — but what is clear is that the language doesn't require another person, and when you read the rest of the bible, the language excludes the idea of another person. He sees it as a beautiful statement of god's creative plan for the human race.

Scriptures: Romans 5; Revelation (book-only); 1 Peter 1

Scripture index: Genesis 1:26; Genesis 11:7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 38; Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 44:24; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 5; Revelation (book-only); 1 Peter 1.